The Rent Boys

Epilogue: We're Gonna Be Okay-

    “I still can't believe he's a fucking waitress,” Finn scoffed, which then fell into laughter that shook his shoulders. He hung his head low and bit his lip in amusement, looking even more of a knob than usual.

    “He's not a waitress he's a waiter and if you take the piss out of him, in front of him, one last time, he's going to flip and then you'll be the one crying on the side of the pavement when your face is all bruised up and bloody,” I warned but Finn just kept on laughing.

    He talked constantly for the amount of time it took for us to get from his school to the street of Donna's Café. We headed inside, out of the cold weather just as it started raining. Tyler was wiping down the tables, and scowled at us as we entered with muffled comments and Finn's sniggering that could be heard above it all.

    “Oh hi, boys!” Donna shouted, arms open with one hand clung tightly to a dishcloth. “So it's the day, then? The day you all move in to your new place! How's everyone feelin'?”

    “Like a coul' do wi' a drink,” Tyler snarked, weaving his way past Donna and into the back room of the café, out of sight. He'd done really well cutting down on his alcohol, it was rare he ever got drunk any more. Shame he couldn't let go of the weed just as easily.

    “I'm feeling really positive about it actually,” I smiled. Tony made a choked noise behind me but I paid no attention to its purpose. “Apparently I'm the only one feeling that way,”

    “Oh, the other lot'll cheer up once they're all moved in. Gosh, I remember my first flat, y'know. Out on me own, no parents, fresh young age of twenty. I had a girlfriend too, y'know, but later realised that a penis was just as good as a vag-”

    “Okay Donna, that's really great, thanks for sharing,” Tony interrupted, barging past me and sitting himself down at our usual table that was still wet from being wiped down by Tyler's master cleaning skills. Tony flicked at some crumbs that had been left behind. “Hey Tyler!” he shouted. “You missed a spot!”

    “Go fuck ye'self!” I heard from the back room. Tony smirked proudly.

    “Oh! Do you boys want a coffee? I can put some on for you, if you'd like?” Donna jumped to attention at the sudden thought, as if almost forgetting to ask was a great insult.

    “No thanks Donna, we better be heading off, it's going to be getting dark soon,” I said, elbowing Finn in the side to stop him from poking me. He hated cafés––for reasons he wouldn't tell me because apparently I'd laugh at them––so he never liked staying in them for long.

    “Alright, well, you boys have a nice night and if you need anythin', you don' hesitate to ask! Oh, I also got you a little movin' in present, it's a lamp that I got on sale from Wilkos! Here you go,” she said, bending down from where she'd bustled behind the counter and placing a medium-sized square box on top of it.

    “That's really sweet, thanks so much Donna,” I grinned, taking the box in hand, grateful that it wasn't as heavy as I was expecting but that didn't so much matter since I dumped it straight into Finn's arms who took it with a frown.

    As soon as Tyler reappeared from the back room––all dressed in his waiter outfit that consisted of black trousers and a white shirt, that looked absolutely incredible on him––we all headed for the door and waved our goodbyes to Donna, bracing the icy rain with sour faces.

    We'd managed to grab a relatively cheap flat at £700 per month. It was the top floor of a four-story building, that looked out on the sea. It was a pretty long walk from the town centre, but I didn't mind. Finn complained about the distance a lot, but no one really paid any attention to him any more. I think he'd accepted his role as background noise.

    Between the four of us, we only just managed to pay it along with the monthly electricity and gas bills. It was ninety percent more stressful living in a flat, when all the bills were addressed in your name with no one to blame if a payment was missed, except yourselves. But we'd managed. Or, at least, we hoped we would.

    As we were heading up the flights of stairs to our top-floor flat, I said rather cheerily, “We can actually save up for proper furniture and stuff. And it's already got an oven, so we can fucking cook things. Can you believe that?”

    Finn laughed, shaking his head. “We need to invest in a microwave, because cooking things takes too long. You can just whack a meal in the microwave for, like, six minutes and bam done. Microwaves are sick, man.”

    “I've always wanted a microwave,” Tony added from behind me and Finn who were in step beside each other as we walked up the staircases. Tyler was ahead, a couple steps up. He was really eager to get inside and sit down. Apparently being a waiter was a very energetic job, especially since Tyler was used to sitting around getting drunk or high practically all day, every day.

    We finally made it to the top. Finn panted behind me, clutching the cardboard box that belonged to the lamp with desperate fingers. Tyler opened the door and we all crowded around him, marvelling out how easy it glided across the clean, woven carpet of the front room.

    There was the window straight ahead, opposite the door, and it was a pretty big one that looked out on the beach and the crashing waves of the sea. Rain blurred our vision of it, but it was beautiful nonetheless. As we walked in, the kitchen was to our left, and on our right were three doors that lead to two small bedrooms and a bathroom.

    “Shit, it's so wide,” Tony whispered, slipping his shoes off before walking into the open space of what was the living room. His voice bounced from the walls, with there being no furniture yet. The only things we didn't have to buy was the fridge and the oven. And now, apparently, a lamp.

    Tony sat himself down against the wall, kneeling in front the windowsill to stare out at the view. The rest of us also slipped our shoes off, shut the door and joined Tony with loud, content sighs as we relieved the weight from our feet.

    “I always thought my first flat would be with a couple of mates,” Finn said, “although I didn't expect those mates to be a bunch of rent boys,” he was smiling as he spoke.

    “I don't think we'll be rent boys for much longer,” I thought out loud.

    “You don't?” Tony asked with a hopeful edge to his voice, as he sat himself down with his back to the wall, now, like the rest of us.

    It was strange to be sat in a flat, the four of us in mutual agreement; Finn, Tyler, myself and then Tony. It was as if we'd silently formed a new group. As if Tyler had accepted Finn into it, and we were all sat there knowing full well we were all exactly the same as each other.

    And to be honest, for the first time in a long time, everything felt right. Really right. As it should be. Maybe Finn would fill the hole that Ash had left between the three of us and with that thought in mind I said, “Yeah,” as I smiled back at Tony, “I really think we're gonna be okay.” 

A/N: IT'S DONE. WE'RE FINISHED. THE END YES IT'S THE END!!! No one is more excited about this than me, seriously. BUT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN FABULOUS READERS AND SUPPORTERS, I honestly owe you guys so much for following this story, and it's been a real honour to see and reply to your comments. I can't thank you all enough, you're all amazing and wonderful. I'm really proud that this is my third completed story, I could almost cry. I hope this epilogue was a good end! 

As for spin-off stories, I haven't decided if I'm going to do any more yet, but you never know! I think for now I'll focus on other stories, especially my new one that I've just started. But anyway, yes, thank you so much and I dedicate this chapter to every single one of you, love you guys! <3